Zack Greinke wanted a no-trade clause in his new six-year, $147-million contract with the Dodgers.

He didn't get it.

But the 29-year-old righthander did get an opt-out clause halfway through his deal, which he can exercise following the 2015 season. And his landmark contract also includes another, more unusual stipulation that allows him to become a free agent the winter after he's traded at any time over the next five years. He called that a "semi-no-trade-clause-type-thing."

So, why was it so important that he be afforded the chance to opt out of the largest deal ever given to a right-handed pitcher?

"It was actually really big," Greinke said Tuesday after his introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium. "I've been trying to get an opt-out in every contract I've ever negotiated.

"It gives you more freedom. Every time someone has it, it seems like it can only be a positive. There's no negative to it."

Dodgers president Stan Kasten had never negotiated a six-year contract for a pitcher and never included a no-trade clause in two decades leading the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. The Dodgers also refrained from including such a clause in a big deal they reached with Andre Ethier after Kasten's arrival in April.

But he was willing to budge on one of the two for Greinke, based on the other options likely to be available in future free-agent markets.